Why should a 15-year-old boy study Gemara all day?
Hello Rabbi,
A 15-year-old boy in a Haredi yeshiva asks why he should spend all day studying Gemara. The material is complicated and impractical (a bull that gored a cow, etc.). He recognizes the value of Torah study, and is willing to dedicate an hour a day to studying Mishnah Berurah (like his father does after a day of work).
Assuming that the situation cannot be changed (and he is transferred to a yeshiva that combines secular studies), what can be said to him? What benefits can be pointed out to convince him to invest in his studies?
Thank you very much.
The question is whether it is an ideological matter or whether he does not connect with learning/is it difficult for him. I wonder if explanations will be helpful to him.
It can be explained that studying Torah is studying the will of God and this is adherence to Him (see Nefa’ah, chapter 4 and Batanya, chapter 4 and onwards), and therefore it does not matter at all whether it is practical or not. One does not study to know what to do, but rather to adhere to God.
Moreover, at his stage he is still in the process of forming his learning and academic skills, so it doesn’t matter at all about practicality. Right now he is learning to learn, and in the future he will use these abilities to learn whatever he wants (and if he wants something practical, he will learn practicality).
And on a practical level, those who think that studying the Bible gives you the tools to know what to do are wrong. You are merely copying and applying its own conclusions, while the goal of studying is to formulate your own conclusions.
By the way, studying for a Master’s degree is incredibly draining, and I wonder if it will last long. Even if he only dedicates an hour a day to studying, I would stay away from a Master’s degree like fire.
And after all, I don’t accept the assumption that it’s impossible to transfer him to an institution that teaches secular studies. It’s always possible, and we should dare and not be intimidated by the mockers. If it’s the right step, then we can do it. Period.
Thank you very much.
I'll add a little more: the guy is not in such a position that he can be made to sit in front of a book all day because of the beliefs of devotion to the law (nefa'h), and neither am I. It seems to me that such beliefs add motivation, but you can't sit in the law all day because of them (unless you are someone like the "Yesod and Shorush Ha'avadah").
Regarding learning skills, his ambition is not to learn learning skills, he is not planning to be a teacher, nor a mathematics lecturer.
The thing with the Mishnah Berura was a wrong example of mine. He is willing to study for an hour a day, and refer the practical questions to the teacher. In short, it's not that he has the theory that it is enough to study Mishnah Berura to be a talmid tocham, he can understand the need to base his knowledge on the Gemara.
He asks, how am I different from my father. If my father is not built to study all day in the kollel, that's why he goes out to work, and fulfills the commandment of Talmud Torah by studying for an hour a day. Why can't I behave like him? Because I'm 15?
Regarding an exchange institution, that's not really feasible. The guy himself doesn't want to do such a thing either, it's not suitable, it doesn't speak to him, and he doesn't have the minimum qualifications to be accepted into such a place (he doesn't know the ABCs). He's resigned to the possibility that he'll sit in a yeshiva until he gets married in three years, and then work in a job that doesn't require too high a level of education.
The starting point is, since he doesn't have anything better to do in the next three years anyway, why not invest them in studying Gemara. He understands that. And yet, we're looking for a more precise definition of what he gains from such an investment, developing thinking skills? Developing patience and perseverance? Connecting to tradition and the chain of generations? A better match? (…) What goal should he aim for?
Of course the question also arises because it is difficult for him to study, if he was enjoying it then he wouldn't ask why.
Thank you very much
In my opinion, there is no difference between studying the Talmud and the Gemara, since the Gemara itself explains the Tanakh in one way or another. Everything is difficult at first. If one gives up on everything difficult, where will one end up? Indeed, a person should learn what he connects to, that is his root, but if he does not learn from it, how will he know the laws? In conclusion, learn what he loves and connects to, but make an effort to learn things that are difficult for him at times. This is precisely the interesting and challenging part, to "eat" the difficulty and overcome. In today's words, "to break the record." And this requires effort. He gains a lot from such an investment - first of all, he will not be discouraged.
There is no problem with him studying for an hour a day in the M.B. The question is basically a question of babysitting (how will he survive another three years until he reaches his prime? At 18, he will get married?). Therefore, I do not see how explanations can be useful here. Studying does not speak to him and he does not find any point in it. So if I explain to him that he connects to the chain of generations and that this develops his learning abilities, will it really help him? It sounds puzzling and unconvincing to me.
I would actually try to get him to complete secular studies and try to advance in this field. Why sentence him to a lifetime of being a shopkeeper or some other boring occupation? If it is already clear that he will not stay to study Torah, then let him invest and advance in an orderly manner in another direction. This is his entire life, and because of three years of babysitting, will his entire life be ruined? I am completely against it.
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